Star Trek: Picard season one, episode 9 recap: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1

Another Uprising

Sutra discusses her plan with Soji, which includes the deaths of many. Soji is not onboard, but she is briefly interrupted by the arrival of Narek. He’s held prisoner while Picard desperately attempts to get in touch with Starfleet. Why won’t they pick up?

Soji has come to her senses and does not fall for Narek’s tricks. No amount of love declarations is changing her mind, but the simple-minded Arcana keeps trying to make him comfortable. Soji leaves to discuss her existential crisis with Picard. It’s evident that Sutra’s plan isn’t sitting well with her, yet the survival of her people is at stake.

In the meantime, Sutra enters Narek’s jail cell and suggests that he’s of service to her. How? We don’t know because Arcana is found dead, and Narek is on the run. We all know that Sutra conspired to have Arcana killed – perhaps she did the deed herself – but why?

It’s because Sutra is convinced some synth overlords can be summoned to help them purge this world of organics. Soji is on board with this idea. Effectively, Soji is becoming the Destroyer the Romulans so feared she was. There are a lot of synths in this settlement, and all of them agree with Sutra’s plan to kill the organics.

All the organics. Sutra sounds like a megalomaniac. Picard pleads with the synths to allow him to be an advocate for synths, but Altan interrupts by reminding them of how little regard Starfleet has for Picard. No one will listen to Picard, and the ban on synths will remain.

His love for his children blinds Altan, and he sides with their plan. He’s an organic – pop culture tells us that his ‘children’ will no doubt turn on Altan the first chance they get. One has to commend Brent Spiner for perfectly encapsulating Altan’s similarities to Noonian and Data while being a whole other cynical character.

Altan places Picard under house arrest, but Agnes is given free rein to help him. As Picard is taken away, Commodore Oh’s Romulan fleet bears down on the planet.

Final Thoughts

This episode certainly took a turn for the weird. There’s an underlying essence of the original Star Trek show, but the episode was so disparate from what’s come before.

The idea of deceptive synthetic beings craving liberation from humanity is a tired trope. I was expecting the show to try harder and do something different. Part of me wishes that the higher synth beings they’re waiting for are the Borg. That would be a neat wrap up of the season.

I am intrigued to see how the characters get out of this mess – Seven and the xBs will probably have some role to play in the finale. At the same time, I’m worried that the last episode will not rise above the trope it’s introduced. Surely Star Trek: Picard will boldly go beyond boring clichés.